


found you when i wasn't looking

by bleep0bleep



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:15:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21877234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bleep0bleep/pseuds/bleep0bleep
Summary: It’s only the first week of winter break, but the house is already filled with Hales. Too many of them, and of course, Mom is revelling in all of it, with the tree and the decorations and the cookie baking and the filming and the asking and the hounding him about if he’s happy.Derek is tired. He loves them. But he’s tired.~In which Derek attempts to escape yet another blind date, and runs into someone who's doing the same.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 54
Kudos: 1465
Collections: The Sterek Secret Santa - Edition 2019





	found you when i wasn't looking

**Author's Note:**

> this is a present for shysterek for the sterek secret santa 2019, who requested fluff with alive hales. hope you enjoy!

Snow is falling in merry little drifts onto the soft twinkling lights of Beacon Hills. A charming town, filled with well-wishers and warmth for the holidays. 

Derek scowls, watching the picture-perfect postcard outside his childhood bedroom window. He was originally going to be on a beach in Hawaii, except Boyd had just proposed to Erica and then suddenly a fun vacation with his friends seemed like the perfect recipe to be third-wheeling for two weeks, and Derek didn’t want anything to do with that. 

So here he is, back in Beacon Hills with his dad insisting he fold his socks instead of downing drinks with colorful umbrellas. It’s only the first week of winter break, but the house is already filled with Hales. Too many of them. Laura’s twins are in their terrible twos, Uncle Peter and Aunt Danielle keep sneaking off like teenagers, when in fact they have three of them, most of whom keep _looming_ in the family room. There are cousins and their partners or dates and extra children and of course, Mom is reveling in all of it, with the tree and the decorations and the cookie baking and the filming and the asking and the hounding him about if he’s _happy._

Derek is tired. He loves them. But he’s tired. 

He throws the haphazard tied-together sheet out the window. Movies always made this look so easy, but the clumsy-looking rope doesn’t even make it halfway down the side of the house, dangling precariously. It doesn’t look all that stable either, and he eyes how it’s tied to his squeaky twin bedframe. Maybe he should tie it to the cot, too. Honestly. Expecting him to share a room with twelve-year-old Nicky is the worst. 

Derek is thirty-three and runs his own successful business. He doesn’t need to be babied, certainly not from Mom, or to hear about her friend’s children in town or to be set up with anyone. 

He’s had enough of these blind dates. It’s just too much. He’s just going to sneak out of his house and go get some coffee or something. 

“Really?” 

Derek spins around. Laura eyes him from the doorway, her eyebrows cocked high. 

“You know she actually had a resume and headshot for the last one?” Derek asks, shaking his head. “I gotta get out of here. Please. I can’t take anymore of what’s next. Help me sneak out.”

“I mean, you could use the front door.”

“Mom’s entertaining the mayor and his wife and three kids.”

“Back door?” 

“Peter and Danielle are hanging the mistletoe, and are, ahem, getting really into it. I’d really rather not.”

Laura makes a gagging noise. Derek agrees. “Well, I guess you should leave now rather than later; there’s going to be even more people arriving. You know how Mom is.”

Talia Hale only recently “retired” from being the mayor of Beacon Hills, but it doesn’t stop her from continuing her longstanding relationships with all the pillars of the community and backseat driving the new mayor. 

“You think this will hold?”

Laura smirks. “I’m not going to tell you that because I want to see you try. Don’t worry, I’ll give you a good eulogy at your funeral.”

Derek rolls his eyes at her and grasps the sheet-rope, gripping it tight. He clambers out the window, holding it taut, and gingerly makes his way down the side of the house, mostly using the trellis and its leafy vines for footing and holding onto the rope for support. At about ten feet left to go he just makes a jump for it, flopping ungracefully onto the ground. 

Laura is barely visible from the window as she’s buckled over in laughter. Derek gives her the finger.

A slow clap begins.

“Wow. Eleven out of ten.”

Derek whirls around.

There’s a cute guy standing in his backyard, his eyes twinkling with mischief. His soft-looking hair is windswept and dusted with snow, and he’s wearing a knitted sweater emblazoned with “MAKE THE YULETIDE GAY.” 

Suddenly Derek is hyperaware that he’s wearing an old sweater with coffee stains and ripped jeans. He stands up and attempts to dust himself off, but there’s no going back from having an attractive person witness you do something incredibly stupid. 

“You didn’t see me,” Derek says. 

The guy throws his hands up, grinning broadly. “Great. Excellent. Yes. No one saw anything.” 

“Seriously, I just need to get out of here. My mom’s having folks come over all day, and it’s going to be like the baker’s wife’s niece’s cousin’s former roommate or something next.”

“Sheriff and his son, actually.”

Derek raises an eyebrow. “You’re Stiles?” 

Stiles clutches his hand to his chest. “Guilty as charged.” 

Derek has heard stories about Stiles for years, but has never met him in person. He hears about him all the time, courtesy of being in a small town; the Sheriff’s boy got stuck in a tree, oh did you hear young Stiles got into Berkeley? He’s one of Cora’s classmates, and for that matter Derek always somehow always thought of him, like Cora, as a baby, even though she’s only four years younger than he is. Stiles has just existed on the periphery of Derek’s life, even though he interned for Laura’s law office for one whole summer and somehow managed to impress her, and Mom adores him because he once debated her for a whole hour about economics at her last holiday party. 

Derek didn’t exactly have a picture of him in his head, but he was in no way prepared for _hot._

“Right,” Derek says, stepping back.

Stiles finger-guns points at him. “Nice Space Balls reference, by the way.”

“Thanks. Happy to supply you with out-of-date movie references at any time.”

“Is that a promise?” And then Stiles fucking _winks._

Derek stares at him for a long moment, as he tries to process. Was that a flirtation?

“Sorry, I just spaced out. I think I’m having a…” Derek makes a general wavey gesture that could probably mean quarter life crisis. 

“It’s okay,” Stiles says. “I mean, I’m the one who tried to escape community politics and cocktails by trying to hop your fence. I failed, by the way.” 

“Oh. There’s a stepladder in the shed.” 

“Excellent. I’m right behind you.”

Suddenly Derek’s escape plan has a co-pilot. Stiles follows close behind as Derek yanks for the shed door and turns on the light. He feels around, but he can’t find the ladder anywhere. 

“Need a hand?”

“Yeah, can you—”

Suddenly Stiles is pressed up right behind him in the tight space, and Derek is aware of the warmth emanating from his body. He tries to turn around, but only ends up face to face with him, their noses an inch apart.

“Hi,” Stiles breathes. 

“Hi.” Derek doesn’t want to say anything else to break the spell. He spots the ladder right behind Stiles but doesn’t move. 

Up close, Stiles’ eyes are warm hazel, flecked with gold. 

Stiles coughs. “So, I know why I was escaping, but where were you going?”

“Oh. Um. I just wasn’t in the mood for a blind date. I have no idea who my mom is going to set me up with next.”

“Oof, yeah, I feel you.” Stiles blushes. “I mean, I actually am feeling— sorry, I can back up—”

“It’s fine,” Derek says, feeling his face heat up. “Here, the ladder is right behind you, I can grab it—”

Stiles shifts, letting Derek pass behind him, but there’s a tight squeeze and he trips over a rake, tumbling forward, falling right into Stiles—

They collapse into a heap on the floor, sending up dust, and Derek is right on top of Stiles. He scrambles for purchase on the floor to get up, but only manages to slip and mash his face right into Stiles’ firm chest. 

Stiles bursts out laughing. “Sorry, your face— you’re so concerned! I don’t mind. You can lay on top of me all you like.”

“At least let me take you out for coffee,” Derek blurts out.

“Done and done,” Stiles says merrily. 

There’s a long moment where they’re just looking at each other, and Derek can’t help smiling.

The shed door opens.

“Derek! Whatever are you doing in the shed, come meet the Sheriff’s son— _oh.”_ Talia Hale grins at them from the doorway. 

“Oh. Hi, Mom. Uh— this isn’t—”

Stiles just waves from where he is on the floor. 

Behind his mom, he can see the Sheriff, Laura, and a whole slew of cousins laughing their asses off. Derek just wants to disappear. 

“I’ll let you get better acquainted then,” she says with a proud grin, closing the door. 

Outside, Derek can hear everyone laughing. He’s never going to live this down.

“So. How about that coffee?” 


End file.
